Tuesday, July 25, 2017

It's that time of day again, another heaping helping of Christmas tracks from you old pal, Ernie (Not Bert). Pretty proud of myself, I've made it 25 days in a row now, that's not always a given. Now if I can just make it to the end. Only time will tell. And now, the shares...

1. The Skaters Waltz by Boston Pops Orchestra, Arthur Fiedler, Conductor from Viennese Night (RCA Victor Red Seal LM-2548, Mono, 1961). A nice place to start the night, and a particularly long version of this fairly common track.

2. Waltz Of The Flowers-Grande Valse by The Organ Masters from Music For Skaters (RCA Camden CAS-2363, Stereo, 1969). I think I shared out a song from these guys earlier in the season, from the same year but taken from a different album. I guess they were popular enough to get two out in the same year.

3. Blue Lonely Winter, the second appearance of this song this season, this time performed by Mrs. Carl Smith, Goldie Hill Smith, taken from her LP The Country Gentleman's Lady Goldie Hill Smith Sings Her Favorites (Epic (CBS) BN 26410, Stereo, 1968). Not sure if she was ever as well-known as her husband, but at least she tried.

5. Overture Miniature by French National Symphony Orchestra Conducted By Roger DéSormiere from the LP Nutcracker Suite/Suite From The Swan Lake-Tchaikovsky (Capitol P-8140, Mono, 1954). Yet another track from this one. And there are still plenty more to come.

6. O'Sanctissima by George And Madeline Brown from The Story Of The Music Box (Caedmon 10" 33 RPM w/ Book CB-2, Mono, 1952). Another album from which I grabbed a lot of tracks. Nice stuff, though.

7. Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring by Anatole Kitain, Pianist, taken from the album The Siena Pianoforte-Bach (Esoteric ESP-3001, Mono, 1955). I don't know what the big deal is about this Siena Pianoforte. I see quite a few albums supposedly recorded on it. I think it's more hype than anything.

8. Ave Maria by Elisabeth Rethberg, Soprano With Orchestra from The Art Of Elisabeth Rethberg (RCA Camden CAL 335, Mono, 1958). Pretty sure this LP just collected up a bunch of old tracks for the modern hi-fi era. Nobody wanted to buy dusty old 78s anymore.

9. The Things We Did Last Summer by Hugo Winterhalter from A Season For My Beloved (ABC-Paramount ABCS-447, Stereo, 1963). Is this the last track from this LP? No, I don't think so. One more, I believe.

10. Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year (From The Universal Film "Christmas Holiday") by Joanie Sommers from Sommers' Seasons (Warner Bros WS1504, Stereo, 1963). I was never sure if this counted as a Christmas song for sure until I realized it was from a Christmas movie.

11. Snowfall-Cha-Cha, an old favorite from Billy May and his album Cha Cha! Billy May (Capitol ST1329, Stereo, 1960). Very good stuff!

12. I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm From The 20th Century-Fox Film "On The Avenue" by Connie Stevens With The Magnificent Werner Mueller Orchestra from her album From Me To You (Warner Bros WS 1431, Stereo, 1962). Have I mentioned lately how much I like the early stuff on the Warner label? They really put out some great stuff in their first few years.

13. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas by some guy who's initials are FS, taken from the soundtrack LP The Victors (Colpix SCP 516, Stereo, 1964). This track has certainly gone on to greater fame elsewhere, but this is where it originated, believe it or not.

14. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire) by Nelson Riddle And His Orchestra from Nat-An Orchestral Portrait Of Nat "King" Cole (Reprise RS-6162, Stereo, 1965). Nelson Riddle is another one of those guys who did some really amazing stuff back in the day. His name shows up in all sorts of places.

15. Baby, It's Cold Outside by Jack Marshall And His Music from Soundsville! (Capitol ST1194, Stereo, 1959). Took me a really long time to find this one in stereo. I wasn't even sure it really existed, but then one day there it was.

16. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town by The Studio Dance Ork from For All Hours!-A Programming Aid For Broadcasters (Robbin-Feist-Miller RFM-005-LP Promotional Copy Not For Sale, Mono). Short, but oh so sweet!

17. On Christmas Day by Gloria Lynne With The Earl May Trio from I'm Glad There Is You (Everest LPBR 5126, Mono, 1961). One of those times you pick up and album for no good reason whatsoever and there's a Christmas song right in the middle of it!

18. June In January by Eydie Gorme-Arranged And Produced By Don Costa, from the mono side of the album Love Is A Season (ABC-Paramount ABC-273, Mono, 1959). Still on the hunt for a two-sided stereo copy.

19. Jingle Bells Mambo by Pete Rugolo And His Orchestra from Adventures In Rhythm (Columbia CL 604, Mono, 1954). I hunted for this one for a long time, and now I think I've found it on three different albums. I believe this is the original, but I could be wrong.

20. The Virgin Mary Had A Baby Boy by The George Mitchell Choir-Conducted By Robert De Cormier from the English album Around The World In Song-Based On The BBC Television Series (EMI (UK) CS 1472, Stereo, 1962). I believe I've shared this from a US LP before, but I had no idea it originated from a BBC TV show. Perhaps I just didn't read the liner notes. I get in a hurry on some of these and don't do as much homework as I should.

And that's it, twenty more tracks from you. A little more than half of these were recorded last year, but the rest were recorded just this month for your listening pleasure. Hope you're enjoying the series! Here's your link.

You have really outdone yourself this year, Ernie and I've looked forward to seeing what you've dug up every day - can't thank you enough for all of your hard work - so incredible! Haven't had much time to listen but when I do I promise I'll comment on favorites!

Bless you, Ernie, for keeping the spirit of Christmas all year. Your posts inspire me to shop for Christmas records at the local thrift stores, and, occasionally, to order CDs. Thank you for all your efforts; they are appreciated!

Got Vinyl?

Ernie's Christmas record want list. There might be something in that stack of Christmas records you want to throw out that I need. Actually, there's a lot more that I need that I don't know about, so send 'em all to me (especially singles)! (Revised 03 March 2018)